Hurts Like Heaven
by Nordic Nonsense
Summary: Spectre Garrus Vakarian never expected to fall for the girl on the other side of the gun. But that was before he met Nova, a brainwashed assassin working for Cerberus who has secrets that may make or break a new threat that looms over the galaxy. Nobody expected love to hurt like heaven. Garrus/OC
1. Chapter 1

_"You are the best humanity has to offer." _

_The woman looked up, the resounding click of the other woman's heels resounding on the floor. Above them, the cosmos swirled and exploded but the woman's eyes were trained only on the red lipped smirk of the person addressing her. _

_"You know your mission, Nova." The red lips confirmed, eyes turning down to inspect immacuately manicured nails. _

_"I do." _

_"You know what you will do if you fail." _

_"I do." _

_"Or if you get caught." _

_"I..." The woman bit her chapped lips, wishing she didn't have to think about the consequences if she failed this mission. Death would be a welcome relief, "...Do." _

_"Good girl. Shuttle's waiting in the lower docking bay and make sure you stop by and see Masque. She said she has a refitted sniper rifle she wants you to see." The woman turned on her heel and then looked up at the vast emptiness above them, "This is a matter of getting our names put back in the news, Nova. Do not fuck this up. You are the best." _

_"I know," She said simply as the woman marched from the room, her heels clicking against the onyx colored tiles. The glass room had been empty for so long. But they were like a hydra. Cut off a head, two more grows in its place. Nova stood mechanically and pulled her mask over her face. She was a blade, wielded by humanity, one of several that had emerged when the first assassin had been taken down. She would not...No, she could not fail. _

_Nova walked from the room, the dim lights of the hallway guiding her towards the elevator towards the mechanics lab. Masque was also a big help on these sorts of missions. The girl was a child genius, barely 16 years old and already an expert on guns. The girl looked up to Nova. Why, she had no idea but the two were as thick as thieves, Nova's only true friend. She continued down the hallway to an elevator that pleasantly dinged when she pushed the button. Several men and women wearing the telltale white and black uniform stopped talking as soon as Nova was observed. Alienated, by the very people who had made her the way she was. She frowed and stepped into the elevator, the pregnant silence settling around the bleach white elevator car. _

_"Seventh floor, please." She said quietly, her voice resonating through the people. The elevator pleasantly dinged and was sent flying downwards. Men and women nearly ran each other over to get away from the woman who pretended not to see them rushing to the set of double doors. She blew a stray hair out of her face as the door slid open pleasantly. _

_"Seventh floor, mechanics and weaponry," The voice pinged as Nova stepped out, leading into another hallway. She walked down slowly, trying to pick out where her friend was. However, when she reached Masque's shop, she found a note on the door, a carrying case on the ground. _

_"N-  
Had to take care of some business for Mr. Shadow.  
Let me know how the case went! Bounty should work for you. I installed a new scope and high impact shots. If you miss this target, I blame you, not the gun.  
See you soon! (I hope!)  
-Masque." _

_She smiled when she saw the note. Masque was one of the only people that could get any emotion out of her, albiet small. She wasn't designed to have emotions, just fight. Picking up the case, she walked towards the elevator and then rode it, thankfully alone, down to the lower shuttle bay. The bay was eerily quiet but a lone transit officer was leaning against a shuttle emblazoned with the infamous symbol. _

_She wasn't ashamed to say she represented Cerberus. _

_The man leaned forward and grinned, "Hey Nova," He greeted, "So, the boss wants you to take out this Asari bitch, right?" _

_She nodded once, "Your sources stand correct." _

_He threw back his head and barked out a laugh, "Damn Nova! No need to be so stiff!" _

_She remained quiet as he stopped laughing, "Are you ready to leave? I need to set up my equipment before the peace summit begins." _

_The transit officer sobered up and nodded, "Yeah. I'm ready to leave when you are, Nova." _

_She nodded and threw her sniper rifle case into the back of the shuttle, "I'm ready now."_

_The two loaded up and the shuttle pulled away from the main base. Nova leaned against the window and watched her hope pass by. It was the only thing she knew, that star. It was the only thing she could remember. She hated herself for it. Or, at least she would if she was capable of such strong emotions but hate, love, anger...they were all gone, replaced by only the itch to take out the targets assigned to her. Nova would fight. _

_And Nova would win. _

* * *

**-Presidium, 1425-  
-One Year After the Reaper Wars-**

"Spectre Vakarian!" A sharp voice bounced through Garrus's cranium. He turned around and his mouth cracked into a small smile when he saw the Asari approaching him in long, flowing robes of an ambassador. He nodded and holstered his weapon, approaching the matron.

"Ambassador V'Nera." He responded with a slight bow. She scoffed and waved him off.

"Oh please, Garrus. It's Windil to my friends." She chuckled and then glanced over his shoulders, noticing two other Spectres coming towards Vakarian, "Friends of yours?"

He turned to see two familiar faces. One was a face he had known for awhile and the other was a newcomer, a human female named Gwen, who, for all intensive purposes, was a good match for Kaiden Alenko with her bright personality and bubbly spirit. She wanted to be a Spectre someday as well but for now, she was serving with C-Sec. She smiled and waved at Garrus who nodded back, the other two joining the duo in their conversation.

"Garrus," Kaiden greeted with a nod, "Ambassador V'Nera."

She eyed Kaiden and smirked slightly, "Who is this handsome young man? If I wasn't with my wife, I would be all over you!"

Gwen laughed when she saw Kaiden blush and stutter something that sounded like his name. Gwen turned to the Asari and smiled, "I'm Lieutenant Gwendolyn Pulliam and this is Spectre Kaiden Alenko, Ma'am. We've been asked to be your personal guard during the peace summit this afternoon."

Windil shook her hand dismissively, "No need, my dear girl! I brought my personal guard all the way from Thessia," She pointed behind her, showing off several Asaris wearing tight jumpsuits with earpieces, "But I do appreciate the company, Miss Gwen. May I call you Gwen?"

"Please do! I would be flattered." Gwen said, beaming. The ambassador smiled at her and took her hand, leading her over to a table with several chairs around it. Garrus and Kaiden sat down awkwardly as the Asari looked at them all in turn.

"Then you shall call me Windil." She said with a warm, motherly smile, "Now tell me! What has been happeing with my beloved Citadel?"

"Before or after the Reaper attack?" Kaiden asked bitterly. V'Nera looked surprised that he would even mention the Reapers but she merely cleared her throat and smoothed out her skirt.

"Well, after, of course. I would rather not talk about the Reaper attack." She said, a little more quietly this time, "My daughter Morah died during the attack on the Citadel. You have to forgive me, Kaiden. I know you lost someone important to you as well."

He shot up so fast that his chair went tumbling over, "She wasn't just important to me, Ambassador. She was important to this whole fucking galaxy. She was a legend and people are merely brushing her under the rug! Shepard saved our lives, hell, the whole galaxy owes her its existence but her name is now a swear?! Why don't you just say it?! Shepard, Shepard, Shepard!"

Garrus stood up and placed a strong hand on his friend's shoulder, "I think the Ambassador gets what you're trying to say, Kaiden."

All the wind seemed to leave his sails and Kaiden's knees seemed to give out on him, "Oh...Oh god. I am so sorry, Ambassador. That outburst was completely unnecessary."

The ambassador, althought shaken, laid a soft hand on Kaiden's shoulder, "There now. I can tell you loved her."

He looked up, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. Even when Kaiden had been on death's doorstep, Garrus had never seen him cry, "The key word is LOVE, Ambassador. I still love her. Even after a year."He stood up and walked from the table, his shoulders hunched. An awkward silence settled over the other three and Gwen finally coughed slightly.

"Kaiden and Commander Shepard had history." She admitted quietly, "She would never have admitted to it but I think she wanted to marry him when the war was said and done. I think Kaiden would have taken her up on her offer. They loved each other very much."

Garrus quietly agreed. He never saw Shepard happier when she was with Kaiden and even though Garrus had been her best friends, (and had even slept together once) Garrus knew that Kaiden's pain would always overshadow his own. While his had become an ugly scar, Kaiden's was still a deep, gaping wound that Garrus wondered would ever heal.

The ambassador looked over at Garrus and smiled again, "So, tell me! How is being a Spectre treating you? I meant to send your father a message about it but never got around to it! I hope he will forgive me."

Garrus laughed softly, "It has its ups and downs. The nice thing is that I'm still technically working as a vigilante, just have council support. It's been a pleasure working with some of the up and comings like Gwen here."

She nodded and turned back to the ambassador, "I want to be the third human Spectre!"

"Doors are wide open for you, my dear girl!" She beamed at Gwen and Garrus knew that the Ambassador had found her new little pet project. He hoped she would put in a good word for Gwen with the Council...althought they weren't too keen on letting another human take the leap to becoming a Spectre...not after Shepard.

Garrus knew enough about Gwen to know what she had been through. She had lost nearly her entire family during the raids on Earth but had served under the Normandy as an enlisted member. He had spoken with her a few times and found her upbeat personality kept the crew optimistic and enjoyed entertaining them with stories that her Polish grandmother had passed down to her. Even when she received word that her family had been killed by Reapers, she still remained hopeful. Gwen was good at that. Hope was a commodidty more rare than diamonds these days.

"You really think so?" Gwen asked, still keeping her eyes trained on the ambassdor.

"I know they are." V'Nera said with a warm, mothering smile. Suddenly, a great screen rose above the crowds of people and the three looked up, shading their eyes against the artificial sun.

"Ambassadors and esteemed guests, the peace summit is about to begin." The man on the screen said, beaming, "Please file in in an orderly fashion and thank you for not smoking."

V'Nera stood up and took Gwen's hand, "Walk with me, won't you dear?" She offered her other hand to Garrus who politely refused. Even if he absolutely adored the ambassador, he still had a job...and a reputation...to uphold.

"Spectre Vakarian," Gwen said, adressing him.

"Hmm?"

Gwen bit her lip and looked up at the sky, "I don't think I'm allowed to attend these sorts of things. I'm only a C-Sec officer! Technically, I should be with Alenko!"

Garrus tugged her out of the ambassador's grip and walked side by side with her, "Today, you can be my intern, how about that?"

She instantly brightened at the idea, "That would be lovely! Thank you!"

The three walked in through giant doors, Garrus couldn't help feel a pang in his stomach. This was the first place he had met Shepard nearly 5 years ago. He sighed and shook his head sadly, keeping his eyes honed in on the horizon.

"Are you alright, Spectre Vakarian?" She asked softly. Garrus nodded slightly.

"Just a ghost of my past." He admitted quietly as the ambassador found her seat next to a Salarian diplomat. The two exchanged formal greetings and Garrus steered Gwen towards the bleachers, "We'll stay here until the ambassador does her speech. We've been assigned to keep her safe and that's exactly what we're gonna do."

"Roger," She said quietly as the council members stepped forward. Since Udina's death, an older woman had taken stand. She was pretty but looked tired and sad. Garrus had been formally introduced to her as Hannah Shepard, Shepard's mother. His stomach still felt twisted whenever he saw her.

"Welcome, esteemed ambassadors," the Asari coucilor greeted, smiling warmly at each row of diplomats, "Thank you all for responding to the peace summit. As we all know, the last year has been a struggle for each of us as we try to rebuild in our own ways. Now, as you all know, we have several esteemed guests who have prepared homage for each person in this room. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce Ambassador Windil V'Nera of the Asari people."

The crowd clapped politely and Garrus nudged Gwen and then motioned towards the platform. Both removed their guns and moved towards the podium where V'Nera was getting ready to make her speech. She cleared her throat and Garrus and Gwen flanked her, ready for whatever would come.

"Esteemed Council members," She announced, "Dutiful ambassadors, thank you for having me here today. As you all know, I am Ambassador V'Nera and I wanted to speak on behalf of the Asari and those who find comfort under the wings of the Goddess." She cleared her throat and began to speak. "We come here today to stand as a single body. Not as seperate races or as species but as a group of survivors. Of victors. We are slowly rebuilding Thessia as I am sure you are slowly rebuilding your own worlds but hear me now. We must come together and put pettiness aside. Commander Eileen Shepard pulled thousands of ships out of the dirt and had us work together to become a machine. Will this machine work again? I think..."

_BOOM!_

Garrus felt something hot and wet splash up in his face and looking up, he realized what had happened. Gwen's face was spattered with bright blue, her eyes of nearly the same color surprised and alarmed. He watched, a piece of his heart falling away as Windil's body slumped forward, her data pad shorting out when her blood coated it, a perfectly round hole between her eyes.

"Sniper!" He yelled at Gwen whose face was still contorted in horror. He didn't wait for her to respond. He pulled out his own sniper rifle as ambassadors and dipolmats screamed and raced for the doors. They tripped over one another as the tried to get out, their voices mingling as one. Garrus did a sweep of the upper balcony and as soon as he saw a shadow move, he squeezed the trigger. The recoil didn't surprise him anymore but he wasn't sure if he hit anything. "Come on, Gwen!"

She followed him up a long, winding staircase until they reached the third floor, Garrus stopping to inspect a spot on the floor. He could see the spot the bullet had fallen and picked up the casing. This person had been in a hurry to escape. He also noticed the casing had a symbol on it he hoped never to see again.

"Cerberus," He whispered angrily, clutching the shell in his taloned hand. "Check around the other way. Do not let this person get the drop on you!"

Gwen nodded and jogged around the other side, gun drawn and ready for action. Garrus did the same, his breathing slow and deliberate. He didn't want to run into this person any more than Gwen did but he knew he had to take them down, kill him if he had to. He kept his shotgun drawn and noticed something glinting in the dim light. Leaning down, he touched it with his talons and pulled it away, noting it was blood. So he HAD shot the assaliant. Standing up again, he looked around for any chance of escape but saw none.

Suddenly, gunshot was heard in the hallway adjacent to his. Garrus sprinted towards the intersection and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Gwen lying in a heap, blood seeping from a wound in her side. She seemed to be breathing but unconcious. Garrus breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, unaware of the person standing right behind him.

She was tall with dark eyes and a mask covering the lower half of her face. She kicked out but Garrus was ready. He blocked her sharp attack and threw her over his shoulder...which she instantly bounced back from, landing in a crouching position, her eyes full of hatred. From here, he could see the color of her hair: an ashy black color, almost grey, tied back into a braid with a fringe in the front. She was ready for the attack. She lunged for him again but he managed to dive out of the way, her hand gripping his right mandible. He was pulled over with her. He yelled in pain as she gripped it but managed to kick her away, her grip loosening enough to whip away. She snarled and went for another attack but Garrus could tell that she was bleeding from her arm. That's where he shot her.

He lunged for her arm, grabbing it and turning her off her feet, her arm being wrenched back. She hissed in pain and Garrus dug his talon into her bullet wound and broke her arm at the same time. The woman screamed in pain and he felt as her body went slack against him, turning into deadweight against his body. When he was sure that she had passed out from the pain, he dropped her and raced over to Gwen. She looked insanely pale now, her breathing slower.

"I should have put medigel on this. I'm so sorry, Gwen." He murmured, putting medigel on her wound. He pulled up his omnitool and contacted Huerta Memorial, "I've got two unresponsive vics here. One was shot and the other was doing the shooting. I dispatched her though and am requesting an ambulance at the Council building."

"We're on our way, Spectre." The woman on the other end said before hanging up. Garrus dropped his arm and glanced down at the girl. Her eyes were closed and she was bleeding freely from the bullet wound. He squatted next to her and pulled down her mask to see if he might recognize her. Unfortunately, she was an unknown to him.

He stood again and pulled Gwen into his arms bridal style. The EMTs could deal with the sniper.

* * *

**Mass Effect (c) Bioware**  
**Nova (c) The Queen of Asgard**


	2. Chapter 2

Huerta Memorial Hospital was one of Garrus's least favorite places on the Citadel. Leaning against the glass, he felt wave after wave of nostalgia wash over him. Sure the place was clean and the staff was friendly enough but it was also the last place he saw many of his friends. He flicked his eye to the rooftops of the Presidium and a small grin crossed over his scarred face. He could see it from here. He remembered the two playfully flirting as they shot cans off the roof and she had let him win. The frown turned into a frown. She had been his best friend and now, what she had fought so hard to put down had resurfaced. While Shepard didn't die in vain, he hated seeing Cerberus rear its ugly head in their direction again.

"Mr. Vakarian?" The sweet voice of a young asari doctor stirred his train of thought and made him turn around, "Miss Pulliam is responsive."

"What about the other girl? The one that I knocked unconscious at the scene?" Garrus questioned, "Is she under maximum security?"

The asari nodded, "C-Sec sent several officers to her room. She's also chained to her bed. There's no way she could escape. As for waking up...We're still trying to send electrical pulses to her brain. It seems like that she's brain dead but..."

Garrus was floored. The girl was brain dead?! "But..."

The asari bit her lip and turned down to her data pad to sort through some data, "She's technically not brain dead...It's hard to explain. It's like something locked itself down when you knocked her unconscious. Do you want to come back? Dr. Bear believes that there's some sort of...neurologic barrier that's keeping something hidden. Probably also why she's not responding."

The turian waved a hand dismissively, "I'll go check up on Miss James first and then come back and see the assassin. Thank you for your help, by the way."

He was led through a pair of doors and a hatch slid open, revealing a pale, chapped lip young woman in the bed, an IV attached to her arm, dripping fluids. Her eyes were closed but as soon as she heard the whooshing of a door, she opened them up and attempted to sit up, wincing slightly as her stitches pulled slightly, "Spectre Vakarian! I wasn't expecting you to come by and see me!"

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked. Gwen pursed her lips and finally nodded.

"A little sore but all in all, I'm fine. I just wanna get back out on the street! This has really opened my eyes, Garrus. Whoops, I mean Spectre Vakarian." She gave him a little grin and shrugged.

"And what exactly has this opened your eyes to?" He asked with a little laugh. The girl's optimist personality was infectious.

"Well...to what exactly being a Spectre means! You have to be ready at a moment's notice for anything, never letting your guard down..." She made a finger door and pointed it out the window, "Maybe if I hadn't been so comfortable, the ambassador wouldn't have died."

"It wasn't your fault, Gwen. You know that!" He said, a little surprised the girl thought she was responsible for Windil's death. Gwen shrugged and made another face.

"Yeah, maybe. But maybe I could have changed that."

"Any attempt to saving her life would have cost you your own," Garrus argued. She turned her eyes from the window to look straight into Garrus. He never noticed that her eyes were an odd amber color. She couldn't have been full blood human with eyes like that.

"Isn't that what Spectres are expected to do? Give their lives in order to secure galactic peace? Whether that means speaking or taking a bullet, I want to be able to accept that fact. If I am nominated, I want to make sure that I'm ready for that. I want to make a difference."

Garrus was speechless. This girl, with all her naivety, had hit what being a Spectre meant right on the nose. In a lot of ways, she reminded him of his old friend Nihlus. He too was trusting and coming from a high and mighty family on Palaven, when he was nominated, had shared some of her innocence.

At that very moment, their conversation came to a crashing halt when an ear piercing shriek rang through the hospital.

Garrus instantly jumped into action, running from the room and skidding to a halt in the patient's lobby. The scream sounded again, reverberating through the floors. It made him wince. However, he was never one to turn away from danger and so followed the yelling and screaming. It led him to a door that was partly ajar and the occupant was struggling against her binds, two C-Sec officers pointing pistols at her.

Tears streaked her cheeks and her eyes darted around the room like a trapped animal. Her hair was a mess and her fingers clenched up and relaxed as she tried to move. There was no moving for this woman. Her eyes landed on Garrus and they went wide, her screaming instantly ceasing.

"G-Garrus...Vakarian?" She questioned in a voice that didn't match her lithe, angry appearance. This voice was soft and would have been warm if it hadn't been rubbed raw from screaming. Garrus nodded for the officers to take their guns off the girl and approached her slowly and cautiously.

"Who are you?" Was the question out of his mouth, catching the girl by surprise.

"I...I don't know!" She confessed, her face crumpling into tears, "Everything is so dark and I don't know what happened! I remember a corridor and being attacked with my squad...Ugh...L-Lopez and...Bennett...Where are they?!"

Garrus watched the madness curl over the girl's features as she struggled against her binds again, "How do you know me?"

Instantly, she snapped her tear streaked face to meet his, "Everyone knows who you are." With that, her eyes rolled back into her skull and her head lulled forward, her body slumping against her constraints. For a few moments, silence dominated the room before a C-Sec officer cleared his throat.

"Do you know who she is, Spectre?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"No. I've never seen her in my life." Garrus admitted, "But she certainly knew me. Do you know anything else about this girl?"

"We tried running blood tests, DNA matches...nothing came up." A human doctor admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "It's like she never existed at all."

For a moment, a wave of frustration washed over Garrus. His friend, a good woman was dead and it was this girl's fault and she had the audacity to not remember who she was. He swore under his breath and then turned around, looking towards the door, "Call me if she wakes up again."

He walked out of the hospital, his brain swirling. Who was this girl?! Whoever she was, she had consumed every waking thought for the past 8 hours. He knew the life of Spectre was difficult but between the death of his friend and the discovery of this Cerberus operative...his mind was going a million miles an minute. Was Cerberus still operating? How could they be? They had been destroyed with the death of the Illusive Man...or so they thought. He bit the inside of his cheek, wincing as he drew blood. There were too many variables, not enough constants.

He managed to get to his apartment in a haze of thinking and glanced over his shoulder. The hallway that he stood in was morphin from the constant throb of business men and women to the spurts of asaris in revealing dresses, humans out on the prowl and everything in between. The underbelly of the Citadel was revealing itself and Garrus disliked it. How badly he wished he could return to Palaven but they needed him here. This was his burden to bear and he would bear it to the best of his abilities.

The apartment was neat and well organized and looked out over the Presidium. The Council spared no expense with the furnishings and he liked it that way. It suited him. He sat down in front of his computer and smoothed back his fringe. He honestly had no idea where to begin with this woman. Something tugged at his gut to check the Alliance database and so, following suit, he pulled it up, not quite sure where to go from there. For a few moments, he just stared blankly at his computer screen before raising a taloned finger that floated over the MIA/KIA link. Finally, he tapped it and a plethora of military personnel came to his attention. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack...if the girl was here at all.

The page prompted him to find someone by their vessel and so for the hell of it, he typed in SSV Normandy, instantly regretting it. Commander Shepard's smirking face was the first he saw, making his heart lurch. Her dark blue eyes still pierced his own and her red hair was swept back in her neat yet distinctly Shepard style bun. She looked beautiful. However, something else caught his attention. Turning his eyes away from Shepard, he saw the top of a dark, ashy colored bun. Garrus' heart began to race. Was this the assassin?!

Holding his breath, he scrolled down and sure enough, he was looking into a completely different face. This was warm and friendly, her full lips pulled back in a winning smile, her green eyes twinkling under well polished brows. Even in the picture, her eyes sparkled with unsung compassion. Underneath was a small blurb about the soldier.

"Petty Officer Second Class Margaret "Maggie" Nolls gave her life in hopes that humanity live to see another day when her team managed to infiltrate the Cerberus home base with under the command of Commander Rachel Shepard. She leaves behind two brothers and a mother."

He had a name of his assassin. And obviously she wasn't dead, Garrus knew that much but...what had happened?! Maybe if he reminded the girl of her name, perhaps she would come to her senses. But it was just an idea and he was the king of failed ideas.

Garrus picked up the phone to call the hospital and see if C-Sec hadn't taken her away when his own phone started to buzz. Instantly, he answered it, realizing that the caller ID said Huerta Memorial.

"Spectre Vakarian," He greeted in his best authorative voice.

"Hi, Mr. Vakarian? It's Doctor Bear from the hospital. We just wanted you to know that your girl woke up."

Garrus's heart jumped a little, "Well? What happened?!"

"She was screaming and trying to bite her own tongue off. We had to restrain her but she's still insisting she knows you. You might want to come down to the hospital and speak to her again."

Garrus leaned forward and pulled off his visor and rubbed his markings, feeling a headache coming on, "Alright. Give me half an hour."

"We'll be expecting you, Mr. Vakarian."

* * *

**Nova/Maggie (c) The Queen of Asgard**  
**Mass Effect (c) Bioware**


End file.
